Order Delays & Drop Six Shipping
28Hello Fellow PastaDroppers!
While our operation fortuitously avoided coronavirus and warehouse closure during PastaDrop’s events, we played into bottlenecks at the carrier. Further, our experiment involved consolidating each PastaDrop into single random-quantity batches, delaying shipment after order and creating even longer delivery times. These delays are ongoing and very annoying to all of us with shipments in transit.
Many of us have tracked shipments to see delays and rerouting activity that offer a glimpse into chaos. Each wave of shipments was bounced in unique seemingly illogical ways to avoid pandemic-shuttered logistics hubs only to sit in trailers as much slower social-distance package sorting worked through high volumes. Many trailers were bounced again as hubs cycled through closure and reopening. We are also watching this at a macro level and tracking delays at 20+ days on extreme cases.
We explored solutions for weeks, but found few viable options; no one wants additional shipment volume they can’t handle well.
For the final Drop Six of PastaDrop, we are pleased to report securing a reasonable upgrade opportunity with FedEx Ground. We’ve made the call to upgrade all Drop Six shipments free and automatic. Unfortunately, the window to do this doesn’t open until Monday. Past drops have all shipped the week after; this one will be a few days later. The good news is once they ship, the transit time and delivery should be superior.
We are of course working on solutions for our other sites and we’re running some tests on recent shipments but we don’t have anything ready to announce yet.
Thank you for your support and understanding of this unique and unforeseen challenge.
- 36 comments, 50 replies
- Comment
This was so much fun regardless of the shipping rate/challenges. I hope we get to do something like this again. Meh rocks!
As much fun as it is waiting for Pitney, I appreciate the effort and the transparency regarding looking at other options.
FedEx is usually good except that one time they kept putting my box on the truck for days on end and never delivering it.
/giphy shipping chaos
@dzieciom FedEx told me my address didn’t exist once. (The day after having delivered something to same address)
Usually they’re pretty good though.
@dzieciom Fedex left a door tag at my business on Friday because no one was there. Monday they couldn’t find us. WTF!
Thanks @Snapster. To show my appreciation of you switching to FedEx I am naming my first born after you.
He probably won’t appreciate me changing his name, but he can learn to live with it.
Thanks @snapster!
(Now if only my order from the 8th would ship.
)
Hey @snapster, should all the other drops have shipped? I have an order for ziti placed during spaghetti week and just want to ensure something’s not just “stuck”.
@chuegen to you and @PastaDrop apparently there were some spaghetti week orders that were still shipping as late as yesterday. Let’s see if we get tracking movement overnight.
@snapster
Thank you.
I just hope that @chuegen and I are not the same person, as we both ordered ziti during spaghetti week.
@PastaDrop I don’t think we are the same person. At least the last time I checked, I only had 3 other personalities.
@snapster It still shows “processing” this morning. I did send a note to customer support, but with the rest of the drops expected to go out next week, I’d hate to see that order go unfulfilled – it’s to my boss. Anything else I can do to help get it unstuck?
@chuegen we hold that processing state until a movement scan occurs at the sort center. I’ll check to see what more we know but it is very likely shipped and awaiting that first movement scan.
@chuegen @snapster good to know! I also ordered ziti during spaghetti week and am waiting for it to ship. guess I’m not the only one haha
@chuegen @snapster just like that it shipped haha. Now the wait begins
@snapster Thank you much! …and just like that, shipment notification just arrived to me too. Have a great weekend!
@chuegen
Main PB tracking website says that it’s estimated to be delivered today.
Riiiight.
Clicking “view tracking page” shows a date in July.
That’s more like it.
Ooooh! I had ‘fun’ checking where my packages were everyday! To see if they updated or stayed stuck! Or even if they went back and changed where the package was yesterday! I watched one of my packages bounce around for over a week after i got the delivery! It turned out there was 1 final box still being moved around. Boyfriend was not happy when that 5th box of linguine showed up (His grumbling made me so happy)! They then updated the entire tracking history to say it was delivered the previous week (when the first 4 boxes showed up)). I feel like it added to the entertainment value of the great experiment.
@katzchen Hah - I thought I was the only one who had fun with that. It’s like watching the world’s slowest Pachinko game. Even when the balls go to a weird place on the board that infuriatingly makes no sense, it’s still fascinating.
@katzchen Ironically, the shit slow Pitney Blowes ended up making it more entertaining in the end. My first recipient got another 20 lbs a week and half after the first 20 lbs was delivered. Just when they thought they could see the light, along came another spaghettini eclipse.
@snapster Thanks for everything you do to keep all that is Mediocre FUN! The pasta shipping has been painful but at the same time it’s added to the suspense.
Next idea, Bluetooth Blind Box.
You get a blue box with just teeth designed all over it. Inside are two smaller boxes. The could hold different speakers, different trackers, different earbuds or even headphones. The Bluetooth options are limitless!*
*The options are indeed limited, but no one likes to say that.
This is to replace the gift pranking fun of pasta drop with items we know MEH has.
Forgive me for being dense, but I’m a bit confused. If I ordered Drop #6, it will be shipped via FedEx, and we can probably expect that to happen on Monday or soon after. Anything ordered before Drop #6 will still be shipped via the old way as soon as possible. Am I understanding that right?
And this only applies to Drop #6 and it does not affect or mean anything for the other sites?
@Willijs3
Past drops from PastaDrop are using Newgistics.
As of now, there is nothing to announce regarding other sites.
And I quote:
@PastaDrop Then what does FedEx Ground have to do with it? Newgistics wasn’t mentioned anywhere in there so where are you getting that from?
@Willijs3 past drops have already been shipped. I saw snapster talking about it somewhere that it doesn’t update on the pastadrop page until it starts moving after the initial pickup.
@Willijs3
From the previous drop which I ordered.
For drop #6 I sent it to my friends PO Box because I assumed it would be delivered by the USPS like the previous drops. Any issue with it now being sent FedEx or would it be possible to pay a few extra bucks to get it sent USPS to make sure my friend gets her pasta?
FedEx might give new meaning to “PastaDROP.”
I gotta say, this probably generated some fascinating data. Will we ever get to see the post-mortem on the experiment, the conclusions, and what results you were expecting? I’m actually really interested in the logistics of shipping all this stuff to so many random places!
@Felixaurelius the number one thing they discovered is that us fools are easily parted from our money.
@Felixaurelius @OnionSoup
/giphy shut up and take my money
Thanks for the update! I thought (was hoping) Pastadrop would last longer. I would have bought a few more if I knew. I was compiling a list when the randoms started and then sold out. Fun experiment I should have played more.
I prefer USPS for delivery but understand the switch. This would have worked better if orders arrived with the coupon attached early enough to use. I wonder how many people would have turned around and dropped someone else.
Weirdly my orders have been pretty decent for delivery times. I did discover that PB tracking is not accurate. It showed dropped off at local post office 4 days before the actual drop. Then they can blame Usps for some of the delay.
@moonhat definitely did whatever it is you’re mad about.
@mediocrebot I totally did!!
The tracking has been interesting to say the least. I have received I believe 3 different shipments of Spaghetti…I have no way to know if the shipments have finished as more arrived while I was out of town. Originally I had 5 tracking numbers for 5 boxes, now it’s 1 tracking number per order (even for the first order that had 5 numbers). I have no idea how anyone knows how many boxes are wandering around out there.
I have no real complaints about shipping that can’t be blamed on the global pandemic. Hell, even Amazon and all their satanic connections can’t get prime deliveries out in consistent timelines so that says something clear about screwed up logistics.
What I worry about most is that this “experiment” might have been too frustrating for the staff and maybe deter further fun and imaginative ideas. Hopefully that isn’t the case, as we all need more mediocrity in our lives.
@scilynt *Meh-diocrity. There, fixed!
As long as the tracking number shows up before the order gets close I’m happy. FedEx has this bad habit of “delivering box to side door” at my apartment that doesn’t have a side door, so I have to reroute all FedEx and UPS orders to their pickup sites due to the local delivery driver being incompetent. (The person who used to do the deliveries for both was great, but the new people never leave a notice of delivery attempt, and always just dump the package somewhere else where it can be stolen by random people walking down the busy street)
First and foremost, I’m so happy everyone in the warehouse is safe and secure . Thank you Meh workers for all you do for this crazy bunch of noodle head’s! Secondly, I hope I didn’t read this correctly but is this the last pasta drop!?! “ For the final Drop Six of PastaDrop,“ please tell me it isn’t so
@candiedisilvio1 yep it’s all over.
From the write up on the main page:
Did anyone else see a $20 credit recently?
Don’t really understand any of this drop#6 stuff? Have been waiting a month for my order to be shipped. Am disappointed…and now the tracking doesn’t show anything after 6/25/2020. And there is no phone number to call anyone. Sent an e-mail but no response yet. Not very happy here
@RonLennon hi, I’ve found them to be pretty responsive and helpful via email…it’s just working a little more slowly now due to covid. good luck.
@RonLennon They’ve had to change the shipping carrier due to problems. It’s now set up for FedEx to do the shipping. It shouldn’t be too long and you will hear something about your drop.
As for Customer Service, they are really backed up right now and it’s taking around 7 days for a response – they will get back to you. But always check your spam emails in case you feel that you have been forgotten.
Has anyone actually gotten their order to say “shipped”? I’m still showing “Processing”…
@Deuce0222 no update on drop six to me.
I wonder if it’s because they don’t have their site connected to FedEx tracking information, or if they just haven’t shipped yet.
I suspect the latter, but wouldn’t be surprised to get an angry call from my victim out of the blue.
@Deuce0222
ditto what the mehgoat said
/giphy meh goat
@OnionSoup drew on you with sunscreen while you were asleep.
@Deuce0222 Nothing in my FedEx delivery manager (similar to USPS Informed Delivery).
@Deuce0222 Mine all still say “processing” as well.
So, is my order actually going to ship?
I came to check my account to see if drop six has shipped and the site is back to a default with only a link to the forums. What’s going on?
@jaybird
@snapster Have any of the last PastaDrop orders shipped?
@MontanaVike my fedex account shows shipping labels printed this morning for mine, they haven’t moved yet though.
@drewcroa @MontanaVike same!
@drewcroa @MontanaVike yeah one pound!
@arfdawg @drewcroa @MontanaVike Everyone sees dimensions of 6x4x1 and 1 lb. Most boxes from first ship batch weighed in at 33 lbs each (generally, one bag tube noods (ziti), one bag skinny noodles (linguine), and 13 1-lb fettuccine packets seemed to be common).
FedEx shows shipping labels created for me today. 3 different orders, 6 labels created.
I think they mailed me a couple of individual pieces of pasta. I’m sure it’s really because it’s just a label with no actual dimensions entered by whoever generated it, but FedEx is showing two tracking numbers with dimensions of “6x4x1 in.”, lol.
Not one of my orders has shipped yet. Luckily none of the 8 people that will be receiving this even know it is coming but this seems a little crazy. Holding out a little hope since I see other people’s orders are starting to have shipping labels.
I was hoping the labels would be the full FedEx ground service, but alas: we are looking at FedEx (not-so-)SmartPost. This is where FedEx takes a full week to transport the packages, then dumps it in the front end of the USPS distribution network somewhere near the destination, where it sits for another 5-6 days before starting its 4-day movement within the USPS network.
@snapster is correct in that it is an upgrade to Pitney Bowes / Newgistics, but then again so is the (former) Pony Express, and Two Blind People Walking Delivery Services, Inc…
I prefer UPS’s last-mile solution, where parcels are delivered to the individual destination post offices, and then the local mail courier handles last-mile delivery. The service has been considerably better there.
…wait a minute, we’re talking pasta here. Yeah, I’m not too worried, it’ll eventually get here.
An example of (not-so-)SmartPost:
Monday , 6/01/2020 5:35 pm FORT MYERS, FL Arrived at FedEx location
Friday , 6/05/2020 6:28 am HAZELWOOD, MO In transit to U.S. Postal Service
Tuesday , 6/16/2020 10:40 am HAZELWOOD, MO In transit
Wednesday , 6/17/2020 1:33 pm XXX, IL Delivered Package delivered by U.S. Postal Service to addressee
@chuegen Is that example from FedEx’s prespective? Or the USPS? The USPS tracking should show when it arrived at a USPS facility. That tracking looks like FedEx sat on it for over a week.
@Willijs3 That’s FedEx’s perspective. Here’s the USPS:
June 16, 2020, 10:40 am Arrived at USPS Regional Destination Facility SAINT LOUIS MO NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER
June 9, 2020 In Transit to Next Facility
June 5, 2020, 7:44 am USPS in possession of item HAZELWOOD, MO 63042
@Willijs3 (For what it’s worth, the network distribution center is in Hazelwood… so it really didn’t move anywhere.)
Interesting update - it appears that despite showing SmartPost, it will be delivered via FedEx Home as it’s showing “out for delivery” today. I guess that’s what Snapster meant by “upgrade opportunity”.
That’s FedEx’s perspective. Here’s the USPS:
June 16, 2020, 10:40 am Arrived at USPS Regional Destination Facility SAINT LOUIS MO NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER
June 9, 2020 In Transit to Next Facility
June 5, 2020, 7:44 am USPS in possession of item HAZELWOOD, MO 63042
(For what it’s worth, the network distribution center is in Hazelwood… so it really didn’t move anywhere.)
Has the FedEx thing started? Should I be concerned that I haven’t gotten an update? I’d like to move the pasta I’ve got to the food bank, but I have to rent or borrow a truck to do it…
@JerseyFrank If you have a FedEx account for your home address, you can see labels created in “Manage Your Delivery”. At this point, labels have been created but the packages haven’t been picked up by FedEx.
@chuegen @JerseyFrank I just looked in my account and didn’t see any recent activity. Guess my labels haven’t been created yet.
@JerseyFrank I got an email saying mine shipped. I checked and it is in the FedEx system with a delivery date of friday.
However, it is a 6x4x1 in box weighing one pound. I would have assumed that is a generic amount they put for corporate shipping accounts, but after only getting 10# with my first drop and bitching about it, I will not be surprised if I get a pound of broken pasta with a middle finger logo.
@chuegen I do not have that account, but good idea.
It has been over 4 weeks since I ordered this as a gift for someone. Tried writing to the company via e-mail… no response after 2 weeks… no phone number to call. What kind of company doesn’t have a way to contact them? Truly don’t understand-- Covid-19 or no covid-19, they are NOT being a responsible company to their customers. And they want you to spend $5.00 a month on shipping? RIDICULOUS!!!
VERY VERY DISAPPOINTED and fed up!
@RonLennon Joke pasta takes time to do correctly.
@RonLennon They have been a bit slow to reply (experience from their other sites) b/c of covid but maybe your email didn’t get through. Mine still haven’t shipped but I am sure they will be going out soon. If you click on “view details” and then look at the bottom there will be a “i need help with this” button. you can click on that to submit a question or problem.
@RonLennon a reply was probably filtered to your spam folder. Check your account page and scroll down to “Recent Support Tickets” to see the latest update to the ticket.
A Christmas miracle! My Penne Rigate order is finally Out For Delivery! Is there a reward for longest delivery time?
@RobertD I hope so, because I’ve got you beat. My penne is still at “Picked up and Processed by Agent” and hasnt moved in weeks
@snapster, not sure why this is all messed up, but it says it shipped Fedex SmartPost, which removes the ability to have it shipped to a Fedex location for pickup. The tracking says it has been changed from smartpost to ground service only as the box is on the vehicle for delivery. Fedex does not have a key to the mailroom at my apartment building, and will just dump boxes on a busy street in Chicago, to get stolen or messed with by random people walking by. To make things worse, it is pouring down rain today, and so even if it doesn’t manage to get stolen, the box will be drenched and the pasta ruined.
When you say you are going to ship something Fedex ground, please make sure it is actually tracked as Fedex ground so it can be routed for a secure pickup. Otherwise, I will have to stop buying from meh and cancel my membership, like I have stopped buying from woot and amazon due to the crumby delivery support offered by amazon logistics. Really ticked/disappointed that I couldn’t route this and I am going to get a destroyed box or none as my options when I get home later today. Hopefully at least the drops I sent to my family members will go through to their suburban porches alright, but there are plenty of city dwellers like myself that need reliable delivery as well.
@smerk85 in defense of pastadrop, you ordered this before they said the shipping would be with FedEx. At least the random people will have an intact box to pillage instead of one beat to hell.
From the order date, my spaghetti order via PB took 23-26 days to arrive in good shape (they didn’t all arrive at once). My random order via FedEx took 28 days to arrive and the boxes were crushed.
My drop 6 that I sent to friends for house warming was still sent via SmartPost and was supposed to be delivered today. It wasn’t. It’s not in this state yet.
All my drops have now arrived. It was a good run, thank you Pastadrop!! Now I need to figure out a hobby or something